Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium cultivar Shepherd.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium, commercially known as a garden-type Chrysanthemum, known under the trade name Kristen, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Shepherdxe2x80x99.
The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Fareham, United Kingdom. The objective of the breeding program is to create new garden-type Chrysanthemum cultivars having inflorescences with desirable inflorescence forms, attractive floret colors and good garden performance.
The new Chrysanthemum originated from a cross made in March, 1998, in Fareham, United Kingdom, of the Chrysanthemum cultivar Pidoul, disclosed in a U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,218, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary Chrysanthemum selection identified as code number G137A1, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Chrysanthemum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross grown in a controlled environment in Fareham, United Kingdom in September, 1998. The selection of this plant was based on its desirable inflorescence form, attractive ray floret color and good garden performance.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla. since December, 1998, has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Shepherd has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Shepherdxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Shepherdxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright, mounded and rounded plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit; dense and full plants.
3. Uniform and freely flowering habit.
4. Daisy-type inflorescences.
5. White-colored ray florets.
6. Natural season flowering in early October in the Northern Hemisphere.
Plants of the new Chrysanthemum are most similar to plants of the female parent, the cultivar Pidoul. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the cultivar Pidoul, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum had larger inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Pidoul.
2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered about one week earlier than plants of the cultivar Pidoul when grown under artificial photoperiodic conditions.
3. Ray florets of inflorescences of plants of the new Chrysanthemum maintained white coloration longer than ray florets of inflorescences of plants of the cultivar Pidoul.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the male parent, the selection G137A1, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were more compact than plants of the selection G137A1.
2. Ray florets of inflorescences of plants of the new Chrysanthemum maintained white coloration longer than ray florets of inflorescences of plants of the selection G137A1.